"I Feel It Like I Actually Feel It": How HCI Can Support the Experiences of Synaesthesia

Mamoru Watanabe, Oussama Metatla & Atau Tanaka. 2025.

ACM CHI Conference on Human Computer Interaction

Synaesthesia is a cross-sensory phenomenon where the stimulation of one sense involuntarily triggers another sensory percept. Previous research in HCI often engaged with synaesthesia in conceptual or metaphorical terms, overlooking the experiences of synaesthetes themselves. We sought to understand the experiences of synaesthesia as a means to inform cross-sensory interaction design. We interviewed 12 synaesthetes and analysed their experiences using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). We found that synaesthetes often struggled to articulate their experiences due to limited sensory vocabulary, time requirements, and a lack of understanding from others. Our findings contribute to an understanding of synaesthesia that embraces its diversity in all forms and moves beyond the immediate perceptual experiences of synaesthesia and toward a more holistic reflection of such experiences as they are embedded in self-reflection, community and environments; and how the insights derived from this preliminary research can guide interaction designers in creating more inclusive technology to support individuals with synaesthesia.